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The Las Vegas-based lender tumbled 19.7% after predicting third-quarter cash earnings of just 12 cents a share -- 6 cents short of Thomson Financial's estimates. Second-quarter cash earnings were in line, but shares were still off $2.99 to $12.21.

Online broker
eSpeed(ESPD), based in New York, dropped 2% after announcing that an accounting-policy review will probably delay its quarterly filing and might result in a noncash charge of up to $4 million for 2002 through June 2007. Shares closed down 15 cents to $7.32 despite better-than-expected preliminary earnings.

And insurance giant
American International Group(AIG - Get Report) was caught in the downward pull of the broad market even though second-quarter earnings
handily topped targets
. Shares saw erratic trading, mostly in the red, and closed down 3.3% to $64.30, helping to weigh on the
NYSE Financial Sector Index, which plunged some 327 points, or 3.5%, to 8981.83. The KBW Bank Index slid 4%.

H&R Block(HRB - Get Report), meanwhile, lost 3.9% to $19.73 after saying that the sale of its subprime-mortgage-lending unit, Option One Mortgage, might not close until the fiscal third quarter -- on or before Dec. 31 -- due to expanded related restructuring efforts. The tax preparer said that it nevertheless continues to work toward a fiscal second-quarter closing date.